Dingess, West Virginia

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Dingess, West Virginia - Wikipedia

Coordinates: 37°52′20″N 82°10′29″W / 37.87222°N 82.17472°W

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dingess, West Virginia
Unincorporated community
Dingess, West Virginia Show map of West Virginia Dingess, West Virginia Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 37°52′20″N 82°10′29″W / 37.87222°N 82.17472°W / 37.87222; -82.17472
Country	United States
State	West Virginia
County	Mingo
Elevation	971 ft (296 m)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	25671
Area code(s)	304 & 681
GNIS feature ID	1554306^[1]

Dingess is an unincorporated community in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States. Dingess is 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Lenore and 13 miles (21 km) west of Logan. Dingess has a post office with ZIP code 25671.^[2]

Dingess is widely known for an approximately mile-long tunnel situated on a county road south of town. Originally built by Italian immigrants, for the Norfolk and Western Railway, the tunnel opened for rail traffic on September 25, 1892. It has been opened to one-lane vehicular traffic since at least the mid-1900s.^[3] Another, much shorter tunnel is located between Dingess and Breeden.

History

The community was named after William Anderson Dingess, a pioneer settler.^[4]

As of 1894, Dingess contained two hotels, eight boarding houses, four restaurants, four groceries, four saw mills, and a school with two teachers and about 100 students. 133 coal miners lived in Dingess.^[5]

The community once garnered a reputation for being a lawless land. In his book They’ll Cut Off Your Project, Huey Perry, wrote “Old-timers there said it was common practice to have a killing once a month. As ‘Uncle’ Jim Marcum described it, 'Why, a colored person couldn’t think about riding through Dingess. They would stop the train, take him off and shoot him, and nobody would say a word. Why, they would even stop the train and take all its cargo. It was a wild country then, and it ain’t much better now.’”

From 1900 to 1972, approximately seventeen lawmen were shot to death in the area which stretches fifteen miles along Twelvepole Creek.^[6]

In 1901, robbers raided the community, dynamiting a large safe. According to a November 23, 1901, edition of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph: "Citizens were on the scene almost immediately after the heavy report, and the burglars hadn’t time to gather up their booty as a number of citizens opened fire and probably forty shots were exchanged. The burglars, who secured a lot of valuable jewelry, escaped on a hand car which was recovered later four miles from Dingess, and on which blood spots were plainly visible.^[7]

Education

Dingess Grade School serves the educational needs of the community. The school mascot is a Dragon.

References

^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Dingess, West Virginia
^ "ZIP Code Lookup". Retrieved October 24, 2021.
^ "Dingess Tunnel". Bridgehunter.com. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
^ Kenny, Hamill (1945). West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains. Piedmont, WV: The Place Name Press. p. 209.
^ Logan County (WV) Banner, 27 September 1894.
^ "Dingess: One of West Virginia's Most Lawless Regions at the Turn of the Century". Appalachian Magazine. December 28, 2014.
^ "Bluefield Daily Telegraph". November 23, 1901 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e Municipalities and communities of Mingo County, West Virginia, United States
County seat: Williamson
City	Williamson	Mingo County map
Towns	Delbarton Gilbert Kermit Matewan
CDPs	Chattaroy Gilbert Creek Justice Red Jacket
Other communities	Ajax Baisden Belo Bias Blackberry City Blocton Borderland Breeden Burch Calico Canterbury Cedar Cinderella Delorme Devon Dingess Fairview Glen Alum Goodman Greyeagle Hampden Hinch Horsepen Isaban‡ Kirk Lando Mines Lenore Lobata Lowney Lynn Maher Meador Merrimac Musick Myrtle Naugatuck New Thacker Newtown Nolan North Matewan Parsley Pie Puritan Mines Ragland Rapp Rawl Selwyn Slabtown Sprattsville Sprigg Surosa Tamcliff Taylorville Thacker Thacker Mines Trace Varney Verner Vulcan War Eagle Wharncliffe
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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